The Methodology of "Varieties of Democracy" (V-Dem)1. Issue 1 (July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Coppedge, Michael; Gerring, John; Knutsen, Carl Henrik; Krusell, Joshua; Medzihorsky, Juraj; Pernes, Josefine; Skaaning, Svend-Erik; Stepanova, Natalia; Teorell, Jan; Tzelgov, Eitan; Wilson, Steven L.; Lindberg, Staffan I.
• Is Part Of: Bulletin de méthodologie sociologique. Volume 143:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 107
• Page End: 133
• Publication Date: 2019-07
• Subjects: Agrégation -- Démocratie -- Démocratisation -- Dictature -- Indices -- Indicateurs -- Sondage -- experts; Aggregation -- Democracy -- Democratization -- Dictatorship -- Index -- Indicators -- Expert -- survey; Sociology -- Methodology -- Periodicals; 301.01
• DOI: 10.1177/0759106319854989
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0759-1063

Abstract

This article describes and discusses the new generation of methodological responses to measuring democracy and related issues generated by Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). V-Dem is distinct in several regards in addition to its unique level of disaggregation, by the combination of: historical data extending back to 1900 and for a large selection among them to 1789 for many countries in the world; use of multiple, independent coders for each evaluative question; inter-coder reliability tests incorporated into a custom designed Bayesian item-response theory measurement model; provision of confidence bounds for all point estimates associated with expert-coded questions as well as for all indices; multiple indices reflecting varying theories of democracy; fully transparent aggregation procedures; and that all data are made freely available, including original coder-level judgments (exclusive of any personal identifying information).